2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 18, 8:26 AM EST, 4 hours 34 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
926 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
ISABEL CONTS TO APPROACH CST THIS MORNING. STRONGEST WINDS SHLD
SPREAD OVER REGION NEXT FEW HOURS WITH LEADING OUTER BAND. SO FAR
RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE NOT BEEN EXTREME...AROUND 2 TO 2.5 INCH ALONG
CST. WILL CONT TO SEE GOOD DEAL OF RAIN AS HURRICANE MOVES ONSHORE
SO NO CHANGES TO FFA. OVERALL FEW CHANGES WITH HURRICANE CONDITIONS
EXPECTED THROUGH MOST OF THE AFTN. UPDATED EARLIER FOR TORNADO WATCH
AND WL PROB NOT UPDATE AGAIN.
MARINE: NO MJR CHNGS AS WINDS CONT TO INCRS ALONG THE CST WITH
ISABEL APPROACHING...SHLD SEE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS DVLP NEXT FEW
HOURS ALONG THE CST.
.MHX...HURRICANE WARNING COASTAL AREAS.
...INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING INLAND COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.
...FLOOD WATCH ALL ZONES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 8 PM...
RFNCZ029-044>047-079>081-090>095-098-103-104-181145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 546 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY HURRICANE CONDITIONS WILL BE SEEN OVER EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA THORUGH THIS EVENING. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST ADVISORY ON HURRICANE ISABEL FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER ALONG WITH HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENTS...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH...AND AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE. ISOLATED TORNADOS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY. JBM
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:01 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Time Warner Cable office was flooded with several feet of water in the parking lot.
The Pine Villa Apartments were flooded with several feet of water in the parking lot.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, September 2003
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5337074, 5337075.